Pathology Visiting Professor to Discuss Gene Therapy

The WSU Department of Pathology will host the first annual Visiting Professorship in Pathology on Wednesday, April 11. The Visiting Professor will be Kenneth G. Cornetta, M.D., who is Joe C. Christian Professor and Chair of the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics and Director of the Vector Production Facility at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Dr. Cornetta will present “Lentiviral Gene Transfer— Moving from Bench to Bedside” on April 11, from 3:30-4:30 p.m., in 101 White Hall (Gandhi Auditorium) on the Wright State University main campus.

That evening, he will present “Gene Therapy—Today’s Clinical Trials,
Tomorrow’s Standard of Care” from 7:00-8:00 p.m. in the Bieser Auditorium at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton.

For more information, contact the Department of Pathology at 937-775- 2625.

Feb. 28 Lecture Highlights Medical Education Research

The next lecture in the 2011-2012 Translational Research Lecture Series is scheduled on Tuesday, Feb. 28, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in Room 120 White Hall. The series is presented by the WSU Medical Student Research Club. All BSOM faculty and students are invited to attend.

The lecture will survey “Medical Education Research at WSU” with a panel of faculty and medical student investigators led by Nicole Borges, Ph.D. (above left), professor of community health and assistant dean of medical education research and evaluation. Faculty presenters also include Brenda Roman, M.D., professor and director of medical student education in psychiatry and assistant dean for curriculum development; Barbara Kraszpulska, Ph.D., assistant Professor of neuroscience, cell biology and physiology; and Raymond P. Ten Eyck, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.E.P., professor of emergency medicine and Simulation Center director. Student presenters include Ryan Whitt (M4), Julie Popritkin M4), and Robbie Beaulieu M2). Download the agenda (MS Word).

Dinner will be provided on Feb. 23. Please RSVP to Adam Deardorff (deardorff.2@wright.edu) if you plan to attend.

Related links:

• Research Learning Community homepage
• 2011-2012 Translational Research Lecture Series

Robert Fyffe Appointed Wright State VP for Research

Robert E. W. Fyffe, Ph.D. (left), formerly Associate Dean in the BSOM Office of Research Affairs, has been named Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at Wright State University effective February 6, 2012. He holds a faculty appointment as professor of neuroscience, cell biology, and physiology at WSU.

He will replace Jack Bantle, Ph.D., who has retired.

“Dr. Fyffe has a proven record of administering programs that support research activities and will provide the leadership necessary to maintain our excellence in research, scholarship, and graduate programs,” said Provost Steven Angle. “He will also be a strong advocate for the diverse constituencies involved in the university’s research enterprise.”

Fyffe was appointed associate dean for Research Affairs at the Boonshoft  School of Medicine in April 2001. He was responsible for overseeing programs that supported the medical school’s research activities in the basic and clinical sciences. Read more.

WSU & PHP Announce Clinical Trials Research Alliance (CTRA)

Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State Research Institute and Premier Health Partners announced today the formation of the Wright State University & Premier Health Partners Clinical Trials Research Alliance to increase medical research opportunities for physicians and clinicians and boost access to clinical trials in the Dayton region.

This major public-private initiative partners the Dayton region’s strongest biomedical research institution with the clinical resources of the region’s leading hospital system. Premier Health Partners is making a major investment of $4 million over five years to support the infrastructure of the alliance. It is expected to build a $5 million to $7 million annual clinical research portfolio over five years, roughly doubling the total of what the medical school and Premier have today.

The National Institutes of Health, other federal sources and pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies spent $94 billion on research and development in 2008, according to Center Watch, the leading source of clinical trials information for both clinical research professionals and patients.

The Wright State Research Institute will lead the alliance’s development, providing business infrastructure and administrative support, as well as building a pipeline for new research projects. The administrative support will free doctors and researchers at both Wright State and Premier from much of the extensive paperwork and bureaucracy that can discourage doctors from pursuing clinical research projects, said Ryan Fendley, institute director.

The alliance will be established from existing facilities at Wright State and initially with Miami Valley Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital as the Premier hospitals, but will be available to all PHP hospitals and practices in the future.

Arthur S. Pickoff, M.D., professor and chair of the medical school’s Departments of Community Health and Pediatrics, and assistant dean for clinical research, will direct the alliance.

“We anticipate this will be a game-changer for clinical research in the Dayton region,” Pickoff said. “This research alliance will give the residents of the Dayton region and beyond the opportunity to participate in a large number of cutting-edge clinical trials, which will result in the development of the medical treatments and cures of tomorrow.” Read more.

For more information about clinical trials, see ClinicalTrials.gov.

Neuroscience Chapter Announces 2012 Events

The Ohio-Miami Valley Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience (OMV-SfN) has announced dates for its 2012 programming.

OMV-SfN’s  Winter Business Meeting will be held Friday, Feb. 17, at Miami University.  The meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. with 20-minute research presentations from the chapter’s participating institutions. The business meeting will follow. Joyce Fernandes, Ph.D., of Miami University will be inducted as the chapter’s 2012 president, and a new officer-at-large from Wright State University will be nominated. The meeting is expected to end no later than 3:30 p.m. Meeting details (room/map/agenda) to follow.

Leslie Tolbert, Ph.D. (above left),  will be the keynote speaker at OMV-SfN’s 2012 Neuroscience Day on Friday, May 18, at Miami University. Dr. Tolbert is Regents Professor and Professor of Neuroscience and Cell Biology & Anatomy at the University of Arizona, where she also is vice president for research, graduate studies, and economic development.

The Ohio Miami Valley Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience (OMV-SfN) is a nonprofit membership organization that promotes neuroscience research and education in the southwest Ohio region. The chapter’s sponsoring institutions include Miami University, the University of Cincinnati, and Wright State University.

Open Forum Schedule Set for VP for Research Finalists

The Search Committee for Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at Wright State University has announced three finalists for that position. As part of the selection process, the three candidates will take part in separate open forums in January. After each candidate speaks for 45 minutes on the topic “Challenges and Opportunities for the Next VP for Research and Graduate Studies at WSU and Proposed Innovations,” they will answer questions from the audience.

The candidates and forum schedule are:

• Andrew Hsu, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies.
  Jan. 9, 10-11:30 a.m., The Rathskeller
• Robert Fyffe, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research Affairs, Boonshoft School of Medicine
  Jan. 11, 3-4:30 p.m., 156 Student Union
• Jennie Gallimore, Ph.D., Director of the Ohio Center of Excellence in Human-Centered Innovation
  Jan. 17, 3-4:30 p.m., 156 Student Union

The Vice President is expected to provide dynamic and innovative leadership in the quest for excellence in research, scholarship, and graduate programs with the mission of a comprehensive, research (high research activity) university. The Vice President will coordinate the activities and aspirations of the diverse constituencies involved in the university’s research enterprise, including the regional Lake Campus, and will provide strong advocacy on their behalf.

More details can be found at http://www.wright.edu/research/vice-president-for-research-and-graduate-studies.

NIH Launches Online Genetics Course For Social And Behavioral Scientists

A new genetics educational program(http://www.nchpeg.org/bssr/) will provide social and behavioral scientists with sufficient genetics background to allow them to engage effectively in interdisciplinary research with genetics researchers.  The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) at the National Institutes of Health, partnered with the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics to create the free, Web-based project.

Increasingly, scientific outcomes are not fully explained by genetic, environmental, or social factors alone or as independent contributors.  Instead, public health advances and scientific breakthroughs tend to rely on transdisciplinary teams of social scientists and genetic researchers.  This creates a greater need among social and behavioral scientists for an understanding of the complexity of the genetic contribution to health, disease and behaviors.

The overarching goal of the course, Genetics and Social Science: Expanding Transdisciplinary Research, is to improve these scientists’ genetics literacy in several key areas, broadly grouped into conversation, imagination, evaluation and integration.  The course will provide sufficient knowledge to support the integration of genetics concepts in the behavioral or social scientist’s own research and will allow for collaborative studies with geneticists. The course will provide users with the ability to conceive of progressive but feasible studies.  Scientists will develop the skills necessary to assess genetics research for validity and utility.

Because behavioral and social scientists have a very large breadth of expertise, the course focuses on core concepts that are applicable to most scientists, no matter where they are in their careers or training.  The course was developed by an advisory committee with experts from a wide range of areas, including addiction, psychiatry, anthropology, obesity, clinical genetics, and race and ethnicity.  The core areas are: variation (e.g., sources of genetic variation, biological pathways); gene-environment interaction; population issues; clinical issues (e.g., family history) and research issues (e.g., data sharing).  The course was developed based on adult learning theory, which focuses on active learning and self-direction, allowing for users to choose their own path through the interactive content.

Scientists using the online course can choose to learn through four case studies–tobacco, obesity, major depression, and breast cancer.  The interactive case studies build the scientist’s knowledge and comfort with the concepts in a stepwise manner.  The general structure for each case study includes a statement of the problem, an interactive review of the pertinent literature, a discussion of the approach to research in this area, exercises to develop the next research question, opportunities for collaboration and a discussion of the clinical implications.  Each case study will link to specific core concepts (variation, gene-environment interaction, population, clinical or research issues) to allow the user to determine his or her learning style.

See www.nchpeg.org/bssr to experience the online course, Genetics and Social Science: Expanding Transdisciplinary Research.

Source: http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jan2012/od-03.htm.

NIH Hosts Career Workshop for Post-Docs

On behalf of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) is organizing the 2012 Workshop for Postdocs Transitioning to Independent Positions on March 12-13, 2012, at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.

The Workshop is intended for postdocs; however, senior graduate students (within one year of completion of Ph.D. study) will also be considered, space permitting. The application deadline has been extended to January 6, 2012.  For more information and to download the workshop application, please visit: http://nigmsworkshop.org.

NIH Seeks Input on Clinical Center Collaborations

In December 2010, the Scientific Management Review Board (SMRB) released a report stating that the NIH Clinical Center is in a prime position to provide a critical resource to members of the clinical research community from outside the NIH’s own ranks. The SMRB recommended that the NIH CC find mechanisms to provide its resources and environment to extramural researchers.

On October 12, 2011, the NIH released a Request for Information, NOT-OD-12-005, in an effort to solicit input from the research community regarding the paradigms by which such activity as recommended by the SMRB be executed.

The NIH CC is looking to provide access to a number of different resources to researchers who are not being readily supported elsewhere. At this time, the RFI is not focused on specific projects or establishing the collaborative partnerships, but rather on designing the mechanisms by which extramural researchers can partner with intramural researchers and potentially access the following types of resources: equipment; goods, products, and services; patient cohorts; and, training activities.

One of the basic requirements of the program is that all proposed projects must be a collaborative endeavor between researchers within and outside of the NIH; this will be more involved than obtaining access to the CC’s resources.

The RFI is requesting responses that are focused on determining how partnering with the CC would help you, which resources are of greatest interest, what barriers currently exist to partnering with the CC, and what should be done to address those barriers.

All responses must be submitted by December 1, 2011.

The NIH Clinical Center describes itself as a hospital that is solely focused on clinical research, including the support of studies that are considered challenging and high-risk but with a potential for great reward and new breakthroughs.

More information can be found here: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-12-005.html

Translational Research Lecture Series Begins Oct. 27

“Balancing Research Careers” is the theme of the 2011-2012 Translational Research Lecture Series sponsored by the WSU Medical Student Research Club. The first lecture will be held Thursday, Oct. 27, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in Room 120 White Hall. All BSOM faculty and students are invited to attend.

The lecture will be given by three faculty from the Division of Morphological Sciences and Biostatistics in WSU’s Department of Community Health: Richard Sherwood, Ph.D.; Dana Duren, Ph.D.; and Ramzi Nahhas, Ph.D. Their presentation is titled “Tackling Basic And Translational Research: Can You Do It All?”

“Our primary work would be considered basic research across a range of subjects such as craniofacial genetics, bone growth and development, and longitudinal analysis of growth,” Dr. Sherwood says. “We will briefly describe our work and discuss the possibilities, or lack thereof, for moving our findings from the bench to the bedside.”

Dinner will be provided on Oct. 27. Please RSVP to Adam Deardorff (deardorff.2@wright.edu) if you plan to attend.

Related links:

• Dayton Daily News article about Dr. Sherwood’s field work in Nepal
• Research Learning Community homepage
• 2011-2012 Translational Research Lecture Series